Amid a challenging economic climate in South Africa, as well as prevailing drought in some provinces, emerging and commercial farmers have become price-conscious and focused on optimising operations to remain competitive, says Afgri Equipment branch manager Riaan Muller. Industry body Agri SA’s ‘Agriculture Drought’ report for 2018/19 finds that the agriculture sector has shed 31 000 jobs since January 2018 in provinces that are severely affected by the drought; this also includes a R7-billion loss in turnover.